MK M2 vs Phoenix 1

On a sunny November lunchtime Milton Keynes played host to Phoenix Reading. The two sides were both relegated last season and their last meeting was a 3-0 win to the Keynes on the road.

A good crowd, including the recently retired Mark Sibson and son Elliot, filled the side-lines. The injured Toby King supported the team by running the substitutions and offering vociferous advice and encouragement.

An early short corner was fired at the goalkeeper by Callum Clarke, but the rebound fell to Dave McMillan. Celebrations were cut short as the cleverly lifted shot was cleared off the line by a Phoenix defender. Perhaps the questions of whether the ball crossed the goal line and whether the defender used his chest to stop it could only be answered by video technology?

A lacklustre performance saw the MK players arriving second to the fifty fifty balls. This angered Chris Reid so much that his resulting histrionics led to opposition players suggesting that he had gambled his mortgage on the game's outcome. A number of Phoenix short corners were consistently run down by captain James Evans. A number of crucial saves from goal keeper James Lemon meant that the deadlock was unbroken at either end at half time. Toby kept his promise of not sugar coating the team talk and a chastised, and more motivated team took to the field for the final 35 minutes.

Toby's dressing down had the desired effect and Milton Keynes started to string together numerous dangerous attacks built on excellent interplay from front to back. Surging runs by Morgan and Luis opened up the visitor's defence. Callum Clarke was ever present and threw numerous penetrating aerials. With 15 minutes to play MK opened the scoring. A dispossession from a 16 hit out lead to dynamic move along the baseline on the right of the goal and a cross to the penalty spot. After taking all the time available to him Dave Breuilly allowed the goal keeper to make a save from his first shot. Fighting all instincts to repeatedly pound the ball in to the horizontal keeper, he dragged the ball back and lifted it in to the net.

A tense few minutes saw Dave Macmillan given a green card for offering unsolicited advice to the umpire. MK held on. Sustained pressure from Phoenix fighting for an equaliser was rewarded 10 minutes from time. A firmly hit shot from the right of the goal found the gap at the near post.

MK visibly slumped and needed an immediate response to ignite enthusiasm. The catalyst for this response came from the tireless Luis. His electric run to the left corner of the pitch ended with a powerful reverse stick cross. Dave Breuilly's timed run across goal allowed him to meet the ball at the near post and deflect it into the backboard, his brace of goals earning the man of the match award.

MK had 8 minutes to hold on.

In a dramatic change of fortune, Luis found himself taking an early bath 2 minutes from time for questioning the umpire's focus and attention. In one fell swoop he relegated himself from MoM to DoD!

Much to the relief of captain, players, and spectators alike, Milton Keynes managed to hold firm until the final whistle.